Powerball Tips

Updated 2/23/15

About Powerball

Powerball Jackpot News: The Wednesday, February 11, 2015 drawing for $565 Million Dollars was split by 3 winners (Texas, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico).

Powerball revolutionized and changed the structure of lottery games played in the USA.
By having five numbers chosen from one set of numbers and another number chosen from
a separate set of numbers, the odds are greatly increased in spite of a seemingly low
number field.

Powerball has made more big changes to the game which began with the January 18, 2012 drawing.
The Powerball number group has dropped from 1/39 down to 1/35, which lowers the odds for a $2 ticket slightly,
down to one in 175.2 million (about the same odds as Mega Millions, except Mega Millions tickets are half the price).

Unfortunately, despite lower odds and higher jackpots, the catch is that ticket prices are now doubled.
It will cost you $2 for a single Powerball ticket.

Powerball Lotto History

Originally, in 1988, Lotto America, Powerball's predecessor, was the game to play.
In April 1992, Lotto America changed to become Powerball.
Powerball was the first lotto game to use two drawings in its format, and it was originally a 5/45+1/45 format game.
The game has added numbers to its format many times over the years.
In early 2009, Powerball changed their format from the 5/55 + 1/42 number field (which had been in play since 2005),
adding numbers to the main set and removing some from the powerball number set becoming a 5/59+1/39 game.
Finally, in January 2012, Powerball changed again to the now current 5/59+1/35 game format. This is also when the
ticket price jumped from $1 up to $2 per ticket.

The Odds of Winning a Powerball Prize

The original Powerball 5/45+1/45 game had odds of one in 54,979,154,
but the odds steadily increased with the format changes.
The most recent changed is the first to have lowered the odds, but since the ticket price doubled, it is not an advantage.
The new 5/59 + 1/35 game has odds of one in one in 175,223,510!.
Powerball did have the worst odds of any lotto game in the country, but is now just shy of the odds of Mega Millions,
unless you consider the high ticket cost, which makes Mega Millions a better bet.
The high jackpots still make these type of games very popular ones to play despite the odds.

To see the difference between this type and a regular pick-6 game, compare those odds to
a 6/59 Lotto game in which the odds of winning the first prize jackpot are less than one in 45 million.
Just one number from a separate number field makes the odds more than 3 times as bad.
You can use our Odds of Winning Lotto Games chart to compare many types of games.

Powerball Lotto Jackpots and Prizes

Higher Powerball Jackpots

Jackpots are now bigger, starting at a minimum of $40 million.
The second prize (won by matching five white balls in any order) is now $1 million.

Largest Lotto Jackpot Records

On Saturday, May 18, 2013, Powerball's highest ever jackpot reached $590.5 million (beating it's previous $587.5 million record in 2012).
The jackpot was won by a single ticket in Zephyrhills, Florida.
Powerball now has the record for the largest jackpot ever won by a single ticket, and the second largest jackpot in the world (the largest was Mega Millions' $656 million jackpot in March 2012 which was split by 3 winners).

To make up for the fact that this game is nearly impossible, Powerball has lowered the requirements to win a smaller prize.
There are 9 ways to win Powerball - different combinations of regular balls and the red PowerBall that allow you to win
something in the Powerball lotto game.
The overall odds of winning a Powerball lotto prize in the game are approximately 1 in 32.
Getting just the powerball number right (odds of one in 55) will give you a small prize of $4.

How does Powerball work? Here's How to Play the Game.

So, to play the Power Ball game, the player chooses five numbers from 1 to 59, and then selects one Red Powerball Ball
from 1 to 35 to mark on their ticket. Each ticket costs $2 for one play.
The lottery will draw the 5 winning Powerball numbers from one pool,
and then they will draw the winning Powerball number from a separate pool.
Drawings are held twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays around 11pm Eastern time.

The Power Play multiplier feature is still available for an extra $1.
You can also use the special Power Play feature of Powerball to increase your smaller prize (you must choose the Power Play option for an additional $1 when you buy your ticket).
The Power Play multiplier number is randomly chosen by the lottery before every drawing and the number drawn determines
how much your prize can increase.
The Match 5 bonus prize feature could even
make you a millionaire when the jackpot growth is limited by $25 million increments.

How to WIN Powerball

All it takes is two bucks and a whole lot of luck and some Smart Luck® strategies, of course.
In spite of the tremendous odds against winning Powerball, there are several things you can do to play smart.
If you want to know how to pick Powerball numbers, we have free methods that can help you win!

Lottery numbers are randomly drawn. But randomly drawn numbers form patterns
that can be tracked and used to our advantage. Having carefully analyzed all the
drawings in past lotto results of more than 190 different lotto games worldwide, with
histories going back as far as 1955, Gail Howard has verified the following incredibly
simple rule:

That which is MOST POSSIBLE happens MOST OFTEN.
That which is LEAST POSSIBLE happens LEAST OFTEN.

The key to Gail Howard's successful lotto number selection methods is playing
the probabilities. If you play a pattern that occurs only five
percent of the time, you can expect that pattern to lose 95
percent of the time, giving you no chance to win 95 percent of
the time. So, don't buck the probabilities.

Gail Howard's Lottery Strategies to Help You Win Powerball

Strategy Book

Below are free lotto tips to help you play the game smarter and win the lottery, taken from Gail Howard's lotto book,
Lottery Master Guide. This is just a sample, and the book
explains all of Gail Howard's successful methods of number selection
in great detail with examples of patterns shown throughout. It is a great starting place for any lotto player.

Strategy Software

Advantage Plus software
makes all the charts for this game, to automate the process of choosing the best numbers to play.
If you use the Advantage Plus
software, when pressing Alt-B you can see all the charts for the five white balls;
or use the separate lotto file created for just the Power ball. Or see all the charts for
all six balls together (which Gail Howard does not recommend).

Lotto Wheeling Systems to help you win Powerball

In addition to number selection strategies, you should take advantage of wheeling your lotto numbers to improve your odds.
Treat the five white balls as you would any pick-5 game. Wheel them using the
Balanced Wheels in the Wheel Five Gold lottery software
or the book, Lotto Winning Wheels for Powerball & MEGA Millions.
Do not wheel the Powerball Ball. The Powerball Ball number is marked
on a separate set of 35 numbers on your bet slip. (If you use the Advantage Plus
software, when pressing Alt-B you can see all the charts for the five white balls;
or see all the charts for the Powerball Ball by itself. Or see all the charts for
all six balls together (which Gail Howard does not recommend).
You can also use the powerball ball history file, pb0135.slh
to see only charts based on the powerball ball.

Free Powerball Number Tips

ODD-EVEN LOTTO NUMBER TIPS

When you select your powerball lotto numbers, try to have a relatively even mix of odd and
even numbers.
All odd numbers or all even numbers are rarely drawn, occurring only 4 percent of the time.
The best mix is to have 3/2 or 2/3 which means three odd and two even, or two odd and three even.
Since the new format change of Powerball, one of these two number patterns has occured in about 70 percent of drawings!

HIGH-LOW LOTTO NUMBER TIPS

Winning Powerball numbers are usually spread across the entire number field, or across 59 numbers for Powerball.
If we take a number field and cut it in half, we have the low half and the high half. In a
59-number game like Powerball, numbers 1 to 29 would be in the low half, and numbers 30 to 59
would be in the high half. All high numbers or all low numbers are rarely drawn, occurring
in only 4 percent of Powerball results. The best mix is to have 3/2 or 2/3 which means three
high and two low, or two high and three low.
For the current powerball results, one of these 2 patterns has occured in about 64 percent of drawings,
so its a very strong pattern to follow for future powerball drawings.

LOTTERY NUMBER GROUP STRATEGIES

View the Powerball lotto results past history list, and note that most often,
one or two or sometimes even more of the number groups are not represented.
For example, for the March 26, 2011 drawing, 04-10-11-19-33, there were no twenties, forties, or fifties.
Tracking and studying Number Groups can help you decide which group to omit and which group to give extra heavy play.

REPEAT HITS LOTTERY TIPS

In Powerball, on average, one lottery number will be a repeat hit
from the last drawing 38 percent of the time. No number will be a repeat 47 percent of the time, and the other 15 percent accounts for
drawings that included more than one repeat number.

HOT NUMBER LOTTERY SECRETS

Numbers that have been out (losers) for six games or less account for about half of
the winning numbers.
Losing numbers that have been out for 9 games or less account for
about two-thirds of all the winning numbers.
Losing numbers that have been out for 12
games or less account for about three-quarters of all the winning numbers.
This tells us that hot numbers are more likely to hit, but don't forget to include at least one
long shot in your group of 5.

COLD NUMBER LOTTERY SECRETS

It is difficult to know when a cold number will end a long losing streak. If you play a
number every drawing because you think it is due, you could be chasing it
for many months. (Number 45 in New York Lotto sat out 100 drawings before it
finally hit.) Although, when a number has been out for 70 games or so, it might be
worth chasing.

Lottery Pools and Lottery Syndicates

POOL YOUR WAY TO LOTTO RICHES

Several of the
107 Lotto jackpots won with Gail Howard's lottery systems
were won by groups of people who pooled their money.
Sharing the ticket cost with others stretches your Lotto budget.
By playing with a group, you can afford to buy more lottery tickets—and play larger wheeling systems—than you could (or should) by yourself.
Draw up an agreement and have the members of your pool sign it.

How to Get Lucky in Powerball

CASH IN ON THE LUCK OF OTHERS

When you form a Lotto pool, your group is also pooling its aggregate luck. A
jackpot could happen because of the luck just one member brings to your pool.
Select your partners carefully. Share your luck with winners, not losers. Avoid
negative people. Not only are they unlucky, but they dampen enthusiasm and drain
energy from others. You want to enhance your own luck, not dilute its strength. One
quick way to tell winners from losers is simply to ask them: "Do you think you
are a lucky person?" Many people quickly admit, "I'm unlucky. I never win
anything." They won't bring good luck to your group either.

CASH IN ON A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

No one should play games of chance out of desperation because they need the winnings.
The needy have a greater fear of losing the hard-earned money they gamble with.
It is just one of life's dirty tricks that the very fear of losing blocks the winning forces.
Thoughts are charged with energy, especially when triggered by emotion.
Fear attracts exactly that which one fears.
A strong desire for a goal that is charged with positive energy, attracts a positive response, especially when every effort is made to attain that goal.

Lottery Wheels

USE BALANCED WHEEL® SYSTEMS

Balanced Wheeling® Systems allow you to bet a large group of numbers (more than 5), play scientific combinations of that group of numbers, and get a specific minimum win guarantee.
Balanced Wheels® force all the winning numbers that are in your group to come together to give you at least one prize if some or all of the winning numbers are in your chosen group.

It's true that the more numbers you wheel, the easier it is to trap the winning
numbers in your chosen group. But to get the most leverage for your money, the optimum
number of numbers to wheel is not more than four or five numbers over HALF the numbers
in your game. For the best way to win Powerball, wheel less than about 34 of the total 59 numbers
(and then mark a few Power Ball numbers separately on your tickets).
Otherwise, you'll be spending MORE money chasing a SMALLER guaranteed prize.
You benefit more by wheeling a carefully selected group of lotto numbers.

THE BEST WAY TO WHEEL ALL THE LOTTO NUMBERS IN YOUR GAME

Any one wheeling
system that covers ALL the numbers in the game is too spread out, making the win
guarantee not worth the wager. There are smart ways to wheel all the numbers in
the game by using Trap-by-Overlap and other wheeling strategies covered on pages
137 to 142 in Gail Howard's lotto book, Lottery Master Guide.

Most of Gail Howard's lottery winners used a Balanced Wheel®
in addition to her Smart Luck® number selection methods. You can use a
FREE interactive lotto Balanced Wheeling System that won
multiple jackpots. Read about Gail Howard's lotto winners, too. And
when you win a jackpot with Gail Howard's lotto systems, tell us about it so you can be added to Gail Howard's
growing list of winners. If you don't want your name publicized, Gail Howard will honor
that.

Save Money by Knowing Lotto Numbers to Avoid

Lotto players who select their lottery numbers thoughtlessly or foolishly are destined to lose even before the drawing takes place.
By knowing which number combinations and patterns to avoid, you'll have an advantage over such players—and save money, too.

AVOID NUMBER COMBINATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN DRAWN BEFORE

Many players like to bet the numbers that have won someone else a big jackpot, and
by doing so, they are almost guaranteed NOT to win one themselves. In Powerball,
with two drawings a week, a set of five numbers plus the Powerball number
has a chance of being drawn once
every 1,875,000 years!!! This should also answer the question Gail Howard is so often asked,
"Shouldn't I keep playing the same set of numbers every week because they are due
to hit sometime?"

AVOID BETTING FIVE CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS

Even four consecutive numbers is a very rare occurrence that,
in most Lotto games, has never happened once. Powerball has such a large number field, this is even more rare than it is for other games.
Only 3 adjacent numbers or less have hit together so far in the current Powerball number format history.

AVOID BETTING ONE LOTTO NUMBER GROUP

Never choose all five numbers from one number group, such as all single digits, or
all teens, or all 20's, etc. All five winning numbers drawn from one group is
highly unlikely, especially with a number field as large as 59.

AVOID THE COMBINATION 1-2-3-4-5

The most popular set of numbers most often played is: 1-2-3-4-5. Thousands of
tickets are bought with this combination every drawing. The selection
is too far out of balance to come up in a random drawing.

AVOID PATTERN BETTING

Pattern betting is an even more popular method of marking bet slips.
Patterns of numbers marked in a row to make a straight line, either across the bet slip
vertically or diagonally get heavy play—which means sharing the prize with
others if the numbers are drawn as winners. Other designs such as patterns of
initials or numbers or crosses also get heavy play.

AVOID NUMBER MULTIPLES

Other popular combinations that get heavy play are the number multiples, especially
the multiples of 5, 5-10-15-20-25 and lucky number 7, 7-14-21-28-35.

AVOID ALL SAME LAST DIGITS

Many people like to play same last digits, such as 3-13-23-33-43, or all digits that
end in seven, or some other favorite lucky lottery number. Even four same last digits occur
in less than two-tenths of one percent of all drawings. No drawing in the current Powerball history has
had more than 4 same last digits.
It is an excellent strategy to play only one, two, or zero repeat last digits in a single combination.

AVOID LOW NUMBER COMBINATIONS

The majority of Lotto players like to play the calendar numbers, such as birth
dates and anniversaries—and their children's ages. This means that the most
heavily played numbers are 1 through 31. Powerball has 59 numbers. If you play
only the calendar numbers, you would be leaving out almost half the numbers in the game.
The sum of your numbers will be so low, you won't be playing a balanced game.

Since this method is so popular, you might be sharing your jackpot with dozens of other
winners. It's not to say that you shouldn't play your personal numbers if you feel these lucky numbers are good to play.
But Gail Howard recommends that you include a couple of high
numbers so that just in case your numbers do hit, you win a prize that's worth
something.

In Powerball, the Trend is Your Friend

The shortest, easiest way to search for lotto numbers that have the greatest probability of winning is to track the trends.
Gail Howard's Smart Luck strategies show you how to understand and use historical data in the Powerball lotto game.
Advantage Plus is the best lotto strategy software which has a vast assortment of charts and reports
that allow you to examine your lotto numbers in an infinite variety of ways.

*Powerball and Mega Millions are multi-state games.
Each game has two separate drawings: the main 5 numbers, and 1 from a separate number pool.
It is best to use a pick-5 wheel for the main 5 numbers and mark the Powerball/Mega ball separately on your play slip.

Frequently Asked Questions About Powerball

Q: Do you win anything for picking the power ball number alone? A: Yes, getting just the red power ball as a winner on your ticket will win you a prize of $4.

Q: Is 2 numbers worth anything in Powerball? A: You can get a prize for matching 1 white ball with the red power ball ($4 prize), but not for matching just 2 white balls alone. The smallest prize without the power ball is for 3 white balls ($7 prize).

Q: Did anyone win the Powerball jackpot? Who won the Power Ball drawing? A: To find out if someone won the Powerball game for the most recent drawing,
go to the Powerball Winner Summary, and it lists the number of Powerball jackpot winners, as well as small prize winners. Most Powerball winner names are not released, but there are some Winner Stories Here.

Q: How many numbers are in Powerball? A: Powerball draws winning numbers from two separate lotto number pools.
There are 5 winning lotto numbers chosen out of 59 total numbers in the first set. Then there is one winning Powerball number chosen from 35 total numbers in the second set.